1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image data transmitting apparatus represented by a facsimile apparatus and a printer or digital copying machine provided with an image data transmission/reception function represented by a facsimile function, and more particularly to an image data transmission/reception apparatus capable of retransmitting image data or an apparatus provided with an image data transmission/reception function, after.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in an image data transmission/reception apparatus represented by a facsimile apparatus (hereinafter generically called as facsimile apparatus) or an apparatus having an image data transmission/reception function represented by a facsimile function (hereinafter generically called as facsimile function), when an image transmission error occurs during data transmission of documents, the user has to find from which page the transmission should be started again and to set the pages on and after that transmission error page to be retransmitted, thus being involved in difficult and troublesome handling of the documents.
In order to solve this problem, a technology is given in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 7-115528 (1995). That is, according to that publication, a facsimile apparatus comprises automatic document feeding means; reading means; an image memory; transmission means; transmission-error detection means; and an error-page memory, wherein when a transmission error is detected by the transmission-error detection means, a number of a page involved in that transmission error is stored in the error page number memory, then transmission is stopped, pages which are set on the automatic document feeding apparatus, which precede the transmission error page, are fed without being read, and reading of pages on and after the transmission error page is started again.
Thus, according to that technology of the publication, in handling of documents, the user himself need not find a transmission error page but needs only to set all the pages in order to transmit not-transmitted pages appropriately. Also, the publication discloses that since the number of the transmission error page is detected by a page counter, the number of the transmission error page may be displayed at a display part.
There is also known such a transmission method (hereinafter called as memory transmission) for a certain type facsimile apparatus that beforehand stores a plurality of pages of data in such a mass-capacity storage means as a hard disk, so as to start transmission at regular time intervals or when the communication line is not busy.
Therefore, even when the technology given in the publication is combined with a memory-transmission-capable facsimile apparatus or a certain type facsimile apparatus which saves a page of image data in a memory until the page is completely sent, in order to make handling of documents at the occurrence of a trouble easy, it is still necessary to read pages on and after the transmission error page again despite the fact that the pages on and after the transmission error page of document data are stored in the memory already.
This may result in that image data of pages on and after the transmission error page are erased or stored separately. In the former case, data which are read previously must be read again, thus prolonging a time required for retransmitting that data from a facsimile apparatus. In the latter case, there exists a plurality of the same document data in a memory, thus leading to such a problem as troublesome page management for transmission or increases in a memory capacity required.
Moreover, the problem has an influence not only on the transmitter side but also on the receiver side, in such a way that when a trouble occurred on the side of the transmitter and a plurality of times of transmission is necessary, the same data are stored in a memory, thus leading to such various problems that the receiver side would output the same image data or that troublesome work is required to select desired items of the output.
A facsimile apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 4-255159 (1992) subtracts, in transmission, a number of pages outputted already from a number of pages of the total image data to be transmitted to obtain a number of pages yet to be sent and display the numbers of the pages thus obtained. JP-A 4-255159, in which data retransmission of documents is not taken into account, does not disclose any method for utilizing the number of pages whose data are not transmitted yet, in retransmission.
Further the facsimile apparatus disclosed therein stores the number of a reception error page, for example, a page whose data are not yet transmitted, in reading and transmission of data of documents, and displays the thus stored page number. Still another facsimile apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 5-145725 (1993) marks a document itself whose data is not yet transmitted so as to read and transmit again only thus marked documents in a data retransmission operation. JP-A 5-145725 does not disclose any method for utilizing the number of transmission error pages. In the facsimile apparatus of JP-A 5-145725 a mark indicative of transmission error is directly placed on a document, so that it is necessary to read data of error pages in retransmission. Therefore, it is difficult to apply the technology disclosed in JP-A 5-145725 to retransmission of data of documents by a facsimile apparatus of a memory transmission type.